Larry Young
Unity
Nov. 1965 / Blue Note RVG
One of the very best Blue Note titles; heck, one of the best jazz records ever. Reasons why: Young takes the organ beyond soul-jazz into advanced hardbop territory, Joe Henderson turns in yet another ace sideman performance, Woody Shaw contributes three awesome, challenging tunes, and, as a bonus, I consider this Elvin Jones’ finest drumming on record. (Coltrane devotees might dispute that, but I’ll stick to it.) Each of the four musicians brings something special to the party, and the result is a burning, inspiring record. It’s not just a musical synergy; the actual sound of the quartet is dark and deep.
Maybe the biggest story is trumpeter Shaw, only twenty and already writing such complicated material as “The Moontrane” and “Beyond All Limits”. Both invigorating tunes run the soloists through harmonic gauntlets. Shaw also writes the opening “Zoltan”, which begins as a march then opens into an Elvoid rhythm with wobbly organ chords. Henderson’s “If” repositions standard 12-bar blues changes into something more abstract and befitting this quartet; they can either play the blues in the solos or go elsewhere. In an organ/drum duet version of “Monk’s Dream”, Young finds all kinds of knick-knacks in the tune’s brilliant corners. “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” has a wonderful Henderson solo with Elvin on brushes and Young burbling the B-3.
Anything else I could say would just be subjective gushing. The album doesn’t have any weakness I can detect, and its strengths mount track by track. The leader mixes the organ’s electric soul with the demanding harmonic requirements of the material. Joe, Woody, and Elvin have rarely sounded better. Rudy’s recording is faultless. The album cover is cool. Five golden stars for an outstanding forty minutes.
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